ABSTRACT
The nuclear order constructed during the Cold War was always precarious and controversial. With the end of the Cold War, the diplomacy that underlay this approach appeared capable of fostering greater protection against weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – including chemical and biological weapons – and indeed of dispatching them into the margins of international relations. The descent into disorder needs to be arrested if more devastating wars and a crippling loss of ability to solve international problems, including grave environmental problems, are to be avoided. Although the recovery of order obviously encompasses much more than WMD, history indicates that to qualify as such, an international order must address the dangers arising from the technologies. Notions of international order and the strategies best suited to its achievement will always be contested. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
